


professionalism (or the lack thereof)

by tobyisrotting



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Emetophobia, Gen, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobyisrotting/pseuds/tobyisrotting
Summary: "Takemura! Buddy! Homie! Dude! Could you uh-," V paused, made a sound most likely a gag and Takemura could hear him throw up whatever was in his stomach. "- could you come - come pick me up, please? I can't.. I can hardly walk, haha."Immediately Takemura bristled, pulling himself up from where he slept in his van. "What?! V, where are you? Have you been drugged? Send me your coordinates immediately."He heard V suck in smoke from a cigarette, which was odd- he didn't recall him ever smoking. "Ugh- I'm a couple alleyways down from the Afterlife. I can't even - seen anything on my phone, just get here, I'll find you-" V sounded like they gagged again, and hung up.
Relationships: Goro Takemura/Male V, Goro Takemura/V
Comments: 12
Kudos: 131





	professionalism (or the lack thereof)

**Author's Note:**

> fyi V uses he/they pronouns in this 🙏🙏 this is mostly based off my V but if I ever write this sort of thing in the future I'll make it more neutral

Takemura did not expect to receive a call at 1:30 AM on a Friday night. He much less expected the person to be calling to be V, who had made it clear they wouldn't call him unless they had a lead. 

Nonetheless, he answered the phone. "Mister V, is there any reason you're waking me up at such an hour? Hopefully an important one?"

From the other end he could hear a shaky cough and the flick of a lighter. The static in the background made it evident they were somewhere busy. "Takemura! Buddy! Homie! Dude! Could you uh-," V paused, made a sound most likely a gag and Takemura could hear him throw up whatever was in his stomach. "- could you come - come pick me up, please? I can't.. I can hardly walk, haha."

Immediately Takemura bristled, pulling himself up from where he slept in his van. "What?! V, where are you? Have you been drugged? Send me your coordinates immediately."

He heard V suck in smoke from a cigarette, which was odd- he didn't recall him ever smoking. "Ugh- I'm a couple alleyways down from the Afterlife. I can't even - see anything on my phone, just get here, I'll find you-" V sounded like they gagged again, and hung up. 

Leaving Goro Takemura speeding down the streets of Watson to get to the Afterlife. He had a pit forming in his stomach, one of worry and urgency. 

He didn't know why he was so concerned. While, yes, V was an important part of his mission, this was a greater concern. One that made him press on the gas harder than he should be. 

He ignored this for the time being, instead focusing on getting to the streets near the Afterlife. Watson was still incredibly busy despite the late hours, cars lining the street and people on the sidewalks. Takemura would take time to admire it properly in any other situation. 

After what seemed like hours, Takemura made it to where he needed to be and pulled over, exiting his van and throwing on his coat. As he walked into the alley where the Afterlife entrance was, there was no sign of his associate anywhere. He cursed, turning to a group of punk-y teenagers hanging in front of the joint. 

There was a boy with greasy blond hair tucked under a beanie, a girl with a shaved head and a pair of bright pink platforms, and an androgynous looking kid with neon green hair and a missing arm. 

"You three! Did you see a man pass through here a bit ago? Black hair, pale- drunk?" The bodyguard asked urgently, earning him nothing more than a few slow blinks from the teenagers. The girl with platforms shrugged, elbowing her other friend. 

"Ay, didn't you try to get some dudes number a while ago and got straight ignored? He had black hair, right?" She asked, which made the other kid flush with embarrassment. 

"I - I don't know, there's a lot of dudes with black hair who pass here, sir. Might need something to jog my memory..." The teen looked up at him with smug brown eyes and Takemura couldn't help but be reminded of V. They carried themselves the same way; with a sort of endearing swagger that made you like and dislike them at the same time. He sighed, glaring down at the three, who had taken the same smug, demanding position of their friend. 

Ugh. Teenagers. The man sighed, knowing there was no point in checking his pockets. He had nothing. "I.. am broke at the moment, but... I will give you my number and you can call me, and I will buy you alcohol. Is that good enough for you?" He couldn't believe he was about to give children alcohol, but he didn't care right now. Right now he was worried about V being passed out behind a dumpster somewhere, God knows what drugs in him. 

The kids looked at each other for a moment, and then the third one who hadn't spoken yet shrugged and held out his phone. "Here. Better be legit, old man," he sneered with an attitude that made Takemura want to push him down a flight of stairs, but he held back. 

Calmly, he put his phone number in and gave it back to the kid. The boy looked at him suspiciously before saving his contact under "weird asian grandpa", which Takemura didn't fail to notice. He wasn't that old, Christ alive. What was wrong with these kids? 

"Now, did you see him? Which way did he go?" He pleaded to the teenager, who teasingly put a finger to their face in a thoughtful expression. 

"Hm... black hair.... drunk.... pale... say, sir, did he happen to have a cute little nose? Not like Julie's here-"

"Oi, fuck off, man-" The girl tried to cut in, but her words were washed out by the other kid. 

"- but almost a lil perky, would ya say?" They finished, looking up at Takemura inquisitively. They were toying with him, then. Great. He didn't need this, but he had nowhere else to turn to. 

"I.. his nose is fine. Sure, 'cute', if you'd put it like that- It is pierced," he added, hoping they wouldn't give him any more trouble. 

The boy scoffed, "Ha, you think his nose is cute! What are you, ma-"

His other friend cut him off with a jab to the ribs. "Ohhh, yep! He went that way, sir! Looked pretty rough, so I would hurry up," the kid smiled up at him and Takemura narrowed his eyes, making them shrink back a bit. 

Thankful he didn't have to waste more time, he turned and started in the direction the kid had pointed him in. Behind him, he heard the girl yell, "Don't screw us over with that beer offer, either, prick! We'll hunt you down!"

The glow from the Afterlife faded and Takemura relied on nothing but the dull, distant city lights and his own eyes to make his way through the alley. He checked behind a number of dumpsters and trash cans but was completely unsuccessful. 

However, he did manage to locate a puddle of relatively fresh vomit. He was at least on the right trail, then. He worried for a moment the kids had played him like a fool. 

He could find no sign of V otherwise, which worried him. V was the type of person to wreck havoc in some way or shape wherever they went. However, there was no damage to any buildings, no horribly crashed cars, no dead bodies with a hundred bullet wounds in their face. It was strange, and unnerving. 

The man eventually came to a split in the alley, which made him curse his luck. There was no one around besides a small cat, who saw him coming and made a beeline for the nearest fence. He could not ask for directions here. 

Swallowing back his feelings of dread, he looked from the left lane to the right, before putting his palms in an oval around his mouth and yelling out into the silent alleyways. 

"V? V, where are you?" He shouted, his voice echoing back to him for a few seconds before things got quiet again. For a moment he worried nothing would call back, until he heard a low, drawn out whine from a pile of scraps and garbage in the left alley. Takemura started forward without a second thought. 

"V! Why the hell did you wander this far, are you insane?" Despite his words, he nearly melted in relief when he saw the man curled up against an old upturned recliner, looking cold, drunk and completely out of it but very much alive. 

Actually, alive was a loose term. A vomit puddle sat a few feet from the man, and his hands were bloodied and bruised. Not only that, but there was a thin but steady stream of blood running down his eyebrow and another from his lip. An array of bruises were forming along his bare arms (Takemura had advised once against V wearing nothing but tees with the sleeves cut, especially without a jacket over. However, the punk had brushed him off and said he "didn't know what the trends were." In reality, he DID know what the trends were. He just found them incredibly impractical), and he seemed to be in great pain otherwise, clutching his head and hot tears streaming down his face. 

"F-fuck... Takemura, p- please, I can't-," with that, V threw up again, painful coughs and sputters following the vomit. The man looked so vulnerable and helpless- almost more so than previous situations. Takemura felt a twinge of pity and something more; he didn't quite know what, but he knew it told him to help immediately. 

He kneeled down and held back their mess of hair as they finished throwing up. He went to firmly pull V to their feet, but they simply collapsed onto his chest as soon as he let go of them. They clung to his jacket and shirt, shivering pathetically. Takemura couldn't tell if it was from whatever pain they were experiencing or the cold. Either way, he pulled off his coat and slung it over their shoulders, tentatively touching their back as they clung to his chest. 

"V, what happened? Were you drugged? Is-" He cut himself off as V slowly lifted his head to look up at him and opened his mouth to say something. Nothing but a breath of air smelling greatly of alcohol escaped his mouth, and his eyes slid up behind his head and he went limp in Takemura's arms. "V!"

Nearly frantically the man went to check their pulse, panic rising in his chest. Not only was V essential to his goals, but he was also.. truly unlike anyone he had ever worked with. In the sense that he seemed to actually care about him, not just as a bodyguard or someone working with him. He remembered how foreign it had felt when V asked if he was okay- just out of the blue, when there was nothing physically wrong with him. V cared more than- well, anybody, even though they were once greatly against each other. 

Takemura didn't understand it at all, but he did know he was going to be in wreckage if they were dead. Thankfully, their pulse was there; slow and barely noticably, but there. The man let out an audible sigh, holding V close to him and giving himself a moment to calm his nerves. He barely noticed in this moment he had his face buried in V's hair, which smelled of dollar store shampoo, hairspray, marijuana and cigarette smoke. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, though. There was comfort in it. 

Once his own heartbeat had gone down, he scooped his hands under V's legs and arms, holding him bridal style. The unconscious man's head lolled backwards, mouth agape. Takemura saw now one of his teeth were chipped. He sighed, adjusting the man's position so his head rested comfortable against his chest rather than straining his neck by leaning back. It was definitely, 100% about concern for his neck. Yep. 

He gazed down at V, something warm in his chest he was too afraid to put a name on. He simply scoffed and shook his head. "You're a fool, V."

There was no response. With a quick exhale, Takemura started back to his van. When he passed the entrance to the Afterlife, the teenagers were now sitting against the building wall, the one who reminded him of V passed out and leaning on the shoulder of the boy with a shitty attitude.

The boy saw him carrying V back around the where he parked and elbowed the other two, pointing not so discreetly. "Look! I told you! There was no way in hell-" his friend leaning on his shoulder lazily grabbed his shirt collar and kissed him, cutting him off. 

"Remember - beer!" The girl shouted after Takemura, looking uncomfortable as her two friends started to kiss a little more passionately. 

The older man grunted and rolled his eyes, getting out of there as quick as possible. He hated teenagers so, so much. 

And here he was with a grown man in his arms who still acted like one. Wonderful. 

He got V to his van and put him in the passenger seat very gently, making sure his coat covered as much of him as possible. It occured to Takemura how much the jacket dwarfed V - while he was aware the man was shorter than him, the man looked a lot less threatening in a long coat three sizes too big. 

The ex bodyguard couldn't help but give a small, amused grin, imagining how foolish V would look in a gunfight in his coat. It almost took the street kid out of him. Despite the bloodied, dirty face and sunken eyes, V almost looked... 

No. 

No, no, fuck, no, this wasn't happening. Fuck. There was no way Takemura caught himself nearly being attracted to V. He had too many obligations back in Japan, too many other things on his plate to worry about. He couldn't cost getting so attached to this reckless, idiot American who had cost him almost everything. 

However, Takemura had to remember the urgency he felt when V called, the panic when he thought V might've passed... and it wasn't like V was inherently unattractive. Not at all, in fact, so much so he couldn't imagine V even thinking of him in any romantic light. 

He shook his head, reeling back and closing the car door. Jesus Christ, what was he thinking? He was wasting time on nonsense when God knows what drugs could be running through V's system, which would be unfortunate considering he was his only associate right now. Takemura got into the drivers side and started down the street, recalling that V's apartment was not too far from where they were now. He briefly remembered the room number, and had a pair of spare keys from V ("Just in case", the other man had thrown the key at him with a wink, leaving Takemura confused and blinking. // "I will never set foot in that mess, V, but if you insist.") 

By 2:30, Takemura had gotten V into his apartment and avoided too many curious neighbors asking what was happening. He had to dismiss a particularly concerned gun salesman, saying it was not his business to worry about. Gently he lowered V so he leaned against the wall between his bed and bathroom. Then, the man filled a small cup with cold water from the sink, came back over to where V sat, and splashed the cup in his face. 

V jolted up sputtering, instinctively grabbing for a switchblade in case he was in danger. However, Takemura had foreseen this incident and removed it from him for the time being. The man held V by the shoulders until he reclaimed his senses, nostrils flaring as he glared up at the other. 

"What the hell- fuckkk, my head," V groaned, leaning back and shutting his eyes tight. Takemura shushed him and held out two plain pills to him, which were regarded with suspicious. "What are those?"

"Painkillers. Should help your head for now, tomorrow you'll have to take more. I'm assuming you'll have a hangover," He regarded V with a neutral expression until they hesitantly took the pills from his palm and put them in their mouth. Takemura handed them a bottle of water afterwards, which V seemed thankful for. They downed the pills with a mouthful or two of water, and then drank the rest of the bottle, desperately dehydrated. 

They sat there afterwards for a moment, regaining their breath, gazing up at Takemura with a weird expression in their eyes. They seemed to search for something to say for a few moments. "I.. Sorry for making you come out this late, Ta-"

"What happened at the bar, V. You look horrible," He cut them off before they could get too sentimental because it probably wouldn't do too good with his emotions right now. V blinked, seemingly struggling to recall the events of the night before silently straightening their back and pulling Takemura's coat closer to them (Takemura wondered if they even realized it was his coat yet. Hmph). 

"I.. uh, well. I just went to talk to Claire about something, but I just kinda spiraled when she brought up.. something I forgot, and I had been drinking for a few hours when I saw some asshole I used to know as a kid," he grunted, fists curling as Takemura imagined he thought of this person. "Guess he recognised me too, and he started spewing some stupid fucking shit from his worthless mouth, and I told him that if he didn't shut up I was gonna beat the shit out of him, and then- well, we started fighting. He kinda kicked my ass, Takemura. Tore out my brow piercing."

The man pointed up to were his eyebrow was now torn and bleeding, and Takemura immediately cursed as he remembered he still needed to tend to whatever wounds V suffered from. As he lifted them to their feet to walk over to the bathroom, they kept talking. 

".. a-and, he punched me real good in the mouth, man, and I barely got a hit on his face, and before I could do anything someone in security grabbed me and kicked me out for the night, cut me off. Fucker," V mumbled as the bodyguard led him to sit on the closed lid of his toilet. Takemura shuffled through V's bathroom drawers until he found an alcohol solution, disinfectant wipes and gauze. 

While V sat scooted up against the back of the toilet, he kneeled down and started gently wiping away the blood and applying the alcohol solution to the scraps and cuts on their face, paying special attention to the slice in the eyebrow. While the solution foamed white, V stared at Takemura with a pout, the same weird look in their eyes. He could still smell the beer and other fancy drinks on their breath, and their occasional swaying told him they were still very much drunk. 

Once he started using the disinfectant wipes, he noticed out of the corner of his eye V doing something odd with their hands. At first he assumed they were fidgeting, as he saw them do plenty of times when they were bored, but the look in V's eyes told him they were calculating something. He didn't like that. 

While he was gently wiping at their busted lip, they apparently decided what they were gonna do. Suddenly their hands were gently holding his face, thumbs stroking his rough skin with tenderness he was not used to. Takemura froze in place, looking at V for an explanation while trying to ignore how warm his cheeks were becoming. He considered blaming it on his cyberware overheating, but knew perfectly well that was untrue. 

V held him like that for a few long moments, just looking him, and for the first time ever he wanted to squirm underneath their gaze. Despite the business of the city outside the apartment, everything seemed deadly quiet around them. He felt his heart beating in his chest, in his eardrums, almost so much that he wondered if the man sitting in front of him would hear it too. 

"You... you are a very, pretty man, Goro Takemura," V drawled, voice unnaturally, unnervingly sweet, making Takemura shiver. He now realized how close their faces were, how their bodies were no more than a foot apart, how if he wanted to he could lean in and -

"Go fuck yourself, V. You're drunk," he hissed, shaking V's hands off of him and being a bit rougher with his cleaning now. The man looked up at him with the expression of a hurt puppy (Was it weird to say that V could pull off the look of a puppy better than others he knew? Definitely not, right?) and Takemura felt himself slightly regret how he reacted, or at least how cold he had sounded. 

But him and V could not afford distractions. Not in their circumstances. In another other situation, maybe Takemura would be more prone to give in, to let himself be so vulnerable with someone... but no. Especially not when V was drunk. 

"I'm not- that's not why I'm saying that, Takemura-," V whined, pushing the other man's arms aside so he could lean in and nuzzle into the side of his neck. His lips, rough and chapped from the dried blood, brushed over the metal on Takemura's neck and the man once again froze up, his thoughts stumbling at the sudden physical affection. He had never... it had been a long time since anyone had been so sensually towards him. It nearly pushed him over the edge, nearly made him give in, but the smell on V's breath brought him back and he firmly grabbed the man and held him back. 

"V. I will not say this again. You are drunk. Do not be so unprofessional," he said sternly, but as soon as he saw the hurt look in the others eyes he felt himself melt, just a bit. He changed his tone to something still firm, but not as cold. "We are... we are under great stress right now. You more than me. We cannot afford such an affair with each other in this circumstance. Your thoughts are otherwise dulled from whatever is in your system. Please... do not. Not now."

V gazed him for a while, another unreadable look that made Takemura want to turn away and hide from his eyes. However, they eventually sighed and let the other man do the rest of what he needed to do. They spent the rest of the time in silence, neither of them saying a word. 

Once V's face was properly treated and there was a patch covering their eyebrow, he helped them to their feet and walked them to their bed. "I am sorry about waking you up for all this. I just - don't have a lot right now, Takemura."

He looked at them with a pained expression, wanting nothing more than to prevent this sorrow from them. However, there was absolutely nothing to do but keep pushing forward. For both of them. There was no going back from what had happened. 

"Don't be sorry, V. We must be there for each other right now," he stated, gently clapping their shoulder. For a moment the two just looked at each other, a heavy air in the room. 

V reluctantly laid down, and Takemura went to shut off the lights he had on in the kitchen area and the bathroom. The only thing keeping the room lit was the dull glow of his eyes and a little cat nightlight V kept on their nightstand. He sighed, taking one more look around before turning to leave the apartment. 

"Wait!" Takemura winced as he heard V call for him, sounding so tired and desperate. He knew he could not ignore him. So the man turned around, blinking as he walked back to the bed. Two eyes stared up at him, and he wondered how threatening his eyes must look, cold and glowing. 

"What is it, V?" He asked, sounding just as tired as the other. He cracked a dry, humored hum. "Have I not done enough? Must I give my arm now?"

V didn't return his dryness, instead desperately grabbing his arm and holding it. "Please stay. I'm not- I'm not asking for anything too much, just - sleep in my bed with me. Please," he begged, his tough voice broken by exhaustion and desperation. 

Takemura clenched his jaw, preparing another angry lecture about how they couldn't risk getting too close to each other in their situation. However... some part of him crushed the logical, practical side of him, and he couldn't help but figure it was too late to walk back down to his van now anyways. 

"Well.. you still have my coat. So I suppose I'll just have to stay till morning so I can get it back," he grumbled, but despite his tone his eyes sparkled. V smiled wider than he had seen in a while and he began to pull of his day clothes until he was just clad in a white tank top and his boxers. 

Hesitantly he got into bed next to V, ready to give another speech if they tried anything too much. However, they seemed content enough. Takemura exhaled, settling into the comforter and pillows. He ignored the horrid smell of surrounding cannabis, figuring he could deal with it for a night. 

He tensed for a moment when he felt V touch him, sliding an arm around his waist and letting a hand wander... but it was just to embrace him. He felt warmth in his chest again, and didn't ward the feeling off this time. 

Instead he turned around and wrapped his arms around the other man, holding him against his chest and enjoying the warmth the other gave off. V seemed incredibly pleased with this, making a sound of contentment and burying his head in the heat of Takemura's chest. 

Takemura sighed. This was a bad idea. Not the worst idea he had regarding V, but it was definitely up there. But... his worried melted away under the other man's warm touch. Things were bad. Very, very bad, but at least they had something as small as each other. Even if they can't have as much of each other as they wanted. 

For the first time in a long time he fell asleep peacefully, comfortably tucked into V and an old blanket. 

(When V woke up the following morning he had to suppress a groan with the pain in his head. He went to grab the bottle of water he kept on his nightstand, but instead found himself completely unable to move. 

Takemura had completely enveloped him with nearly every limb, head buried in the crook of his neck. V blinked for a moment, trying to think about a way out of this dilemma, but eventually decided he'd wait for the other man to wake up before doing anything. He enjoyed this far too much. 

Speaking of which, he grabbed his phone from the side of his bed and, with his one free hand, snapped a picture of him with dreary eyes and Takemura nuzzled right up next to him. V grinned. Oh, they were so gonna mess with him over this.)


End file.
